LAGUNA BEACH : Historical Buildings May Be Demolished

With three history-rich buildings--including the old Fahrenheit 451 bookstore--threatened with demolition, city officials and Heritage Committee members will meet at the beachfront property Monday to try and determine if the buildings can be saved.

The land was purchased recently by Wyland, an artist who 13 years ago painted the adjacent “Whaling Wall,” a large retaining wall that faces the Hotel Laguna.

The property includes two dilapidated cottages built in 1902 that were part of the original settlement at Main Beach. Wyland, who said he paid $825,000 for the property, intends to build a home and studio at the site.

City planning commissioners have said they would like the existing structures to be used in the redevelopment. But Jim Conrad, Wyland’s architect, said the structures should be razed.

“These buildings are in such poor condition, it will be impossible to renovate them,” he said. “It would be crazy, it’s just totally impossible. They are termite-ridden, dry-rotted, falling apart structures.”

But Ann Larson, the city’s liaison to the Heritage Committee, said it would be possible to reconstruct the building “board-by-board.”

Members of the Laguna Beach Historical Society spoke on behalf of the old bookstore at the last Planning Commission meeting, asking that the tiny two-story building, once the site of the city’s most popular book depository, be recognized for its historic value.

On Monday, city workers and history buffs will try to determine whether the buildings can be rehabilitated and made safe. A study has already determined that the bluff-top property is sliding, Larson said. He said another option might be to move the buildings to another location.

Conrad said neither option is realistic.

“We’re going to go inside the buildings and let them take a real good look at them,” he said. “All the buildings at the site are in terrible condition.”

One thing Wyland would like to see preserved is the retaining wall alongside his property. The 28-by-165-foot wall is covered with a mural he completed on his 21st birthday.